“Arthur,” the public television show that was the longest-running kids’ animated series in the U.S., is getting its own podcast featuring the beloved anthropomorphic aardvark.
Season 1 of “The Arthur Podcast,” featuring eight episodes, will launch weekly on Thursdays starting Oct. 20. The podcast taps into the “Arthur” content library that spans 25 years, retelling classic episodes from the TV series in a new audio format. Listeners will hear from Arthur, D.W., Buster and other favorite characters as they navigate school, friendships and other challenges. In addition, fans will be able to submit responses to “Arthur’s Inbox” on the PBS Kids for Parents website, to be potentially included in future episodes.
“The Arthur Podcast” will be available for free on the PBS Kids Video app, the Arthur YouTube channel, pbskids.org, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and other major podcast platforms. The podcast comes from PBS Kids, Boston’s GBH Kids and production partner Gen-Z Media, distributed by PRX.
“Arthur” ended its run on PBS this February with its 25th and final season. However, new content for the show (like the podcast) will continue to be released on PBS Kids.
“It’s been so fun to help Arthur make his new podcast,” said Carol Greenwald, senior executive producer for GBH Kids. “He, D.W., and Buster has done a great job sharing their adventures — and the podcast platform will allow us to reach new audiences as well as reconnect longtime fans to many of our classic stories.”
Added Ben Strouse, CEO of Gen-Z Media, “We hope the podcast version provides kids as well as those of us who have grown up with the iconic show an important new way to enjoy these wonderful and relatable stories.”
The Peabody- and Emmy-winning “Arthur” series, which debuted in 1996, is based on the bestselling books by Marc Brown and produced by GBH Boston.
To promote the upcoming podcast, PBS Kids also released a new digital short, “Arthur Makes a Podcast” (available at this link), starring Arthur Read and his sister D.W. as he navigates podcast production.
